If we're not willing to settle for junk living, we certainly shouldn't settle for junk food.

Sally Edwards

7 Tips for Fast Food Survival

Bonus! Guide to Eating Out in Fast Food Chains
By Joe Wilkes

No, we haven't lost our minds here at Beachbody. We don't actually want you to eat fast food. It's terrible for you. It makes you fat. It destabilizes economies and nations. It kills the environment. Read Fast Food Nation. See Super Size Me. If you're really serious about getting or staying in shape, fast food restaurants are not on your path to success.

However, sometimes fast food is the only option other than starvation. Long road trips, coworker lunches, the only place your child or childish companion will eatthese are all situations where you may be forced to enter one of these fluorescent dens of gluttony and decide which of their evilly delicious menu items you'll be naming your newly enlarged buttocks after.

While the fast food companies have generally shown an appalling disregard for their customers' health, they have lately been shamed by our nation's obesity epidemic into offering some menu items that have some nutritional value. They still can't resist adding a little unneeded fat or extra high-fructose corn syrup just to spice things up, so it's wise to take a buyer-beware approach when ordering your meal. Here are some tips to make healthier choices and some suggestions about the healthiest (relatively speaking) things to order at some of the major fast food chains.

Get less for your money. This may seem counterintuitive, but the so-called value meals really only offer you extra calories, saturated fat, sugar, and other diet killers. While it may seem like an unbelievable deal that you can get twice as many fries for only 19 more cents, it's a bit of a false economy, unless you're saving up for a bypass operation. If you really want to save money, pack a lunch.

One of the biggest problems with fast food is that the food is incredibly dense in calories, fat, sodium, and bad carbohydrates. They pack a lot of unhealthiness into a small package. So you think you're just having a quick bite, but you're really getting most of your day's requirement of fat, sodium, and calories. This is where we get the term "gut bomb." Paying extra to ruin your health makes no sense. Ordering the small size may not be as cheap per pound of food, but it will save a fortune when working off pounds of fat later.

Discover your inner child. The best place to find a reasonably sized portion for an adult is sadly, the children's menu. Bowing to the horrible publicity created by childhood obesity, fast food companies have made the most improvements to the kids' menu. In fact, at some restaurants, the kids' meal is the only way you can get healthy sides like fruit or carrots. It's great the kids are getting healthier options. After all, the children are our future . . . organ donors. We need to keep them healthy. But if you eat the healthy stuff on their menu yourself, you might be able to hang on to your own organs a little while longer. You don't need to impress the teenage cashier with your ability to eat the maximum fries and triple patties. Don't be ashamed to order the junior hamburger or even the kids' meal. And you might get a free toy in the bargain!

Stick to salads. A big problem with fast food is that many innocent-looking nuggets and patties are loaded with added fats, flavorful chemicals, and high-fructose corn syrup which wreak havoc on your blood sugar levels. Salads are a good way to eat ingredients where you can easily observe whether they've been adulterated with bad-for-you additives. Not to be deterred, the fast food companies will try to get you with the dressings. Ask for oil and vinegar, if possible. If not, check the ingredients and calorie counts of the dressings offered carefully. You're better off with a vinaigrette or vinegar-based dressing like Italian. Also, true to form, most places give you enough dressing to dress several salads. Either use only half the packet of dressing or ask for a side cup you can squirt it into, and then dip your fork in the dressing before you get a bite of salad. Another way to avoid the dressing trap is to forego it completely, and scam some fresh lemons from the condiment or beverage counter and squeeze them over your salad.

Beware of "theme" salads. It's called a salad. It looks like a salad. It has lettuce. It must be a salad, right? Like the restaurant I went to that had a "cheesesteak salad" on their menu (I kid you not). Don't be fooled by clever naming tricks. A taco salad at most places is just all the unhealthy ingredients you're trying to avoid dumped on a plate of lettuce. In some cases, you're better off calorie-wise eating the taco in its original construction. Use common sense when selecting a salad, making sure all the ingredients are vegetables, fruits, and lean proteins you can recognize. Don't let restaurants mislead you into eating crap disguised as food.

Have it your way. Remember the old Burger King jingle, "Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, special orders don't upset us." Take them at their word. Only don't hold the pickle and the lettuce, hold the mayo and high-corn-syrup ketchup. Ask if you can substitute the grilled chicken breast for the breaded chicken breast. Wheat buns for white buns. Lettuce cups for buns. Ask for extra veggies. And hold the cheez, especially if it's spelled with a "z." Tell them you'd rather salt the fries yourself. When you order the "healthy" grilled-chicken or fish sandwiches, make sure they're not loaded with mayo or special sauces. Ask for salsa or mustard instead. After all, one advantage of a fast food joint over a fine restaurant: when they're annoyed with your special requests, they can't spit in your food, because you'll see them do it.

Watch what you drink. The most profitable menu items for restaurants are soft drinks. Costing almost nothing to make, they want you to get as big a size as possible and pay for it. What you'll get is tons of sugar and chemicals. And maybe eventually, diabetes! Read Steve Edwards' Nutrition 911, Part VI, The Worst Food on the Planet if you need to know why soda (and diet soda) will ruin your figure and your health. Try and stick with iced tea or water. And to play the broken record again, if you must get soda, get the small.

And a milkshake is not a drink. It will often be suggested that you wash down your burgers and fries with a frosty milkshake. Sounds good, right? You can tell yourself you're getting your calcium, fighting osteoporosis! You're also getting over 1,000 calories if you get a large at some restaurants. Even the kid sizes come in at 300+ calories. Your drink probably shouldn't have more calories than your meal. Also, if it's called a shake, instead of a milkshake, there's a good chance it doesn't even contain any dairy. Maybe some whipped lard instead! Mmmmm, whipped lard . . . I guess Frosty Whipped Lard Shakes didn't make it out of the marketing meeting.

Quick-Look Fast Food Guide

All hope isn't lost, though. You can almost find something healthy to eat anywhere. Here are the best bets at some of the most popular fast-food chains. (Unless specified, salad calorie counts do not include dressing.)

McDonald's

Small hamburger (260 calories)

Asian Salad with Grilled Chicken (290 calories)

Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken (220 calories)

Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette (40 calories)

Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait (160 calories)

Most misleading item:Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips. Premium chicken breast sounds good on the surface, certainly better than the mysterious McNuggets, but the 10-piece version will run you 1,270 calories, and that's before you dip it in the sauce! You could eat two Big Macs and get fewer calories.

Burger King

Chicken Tenders  5 pieces (210 calories)

Tendergrill Chicken Caesar Salad (220 calories)

Tendergrill Chicken Garden Salad (230 calories)

Note: both these salads are without dressing, where the "light" Italian will add 120 calories, and the garlic parmesan toast another 70.

Whopper Jr. (without mayo) (290 calories)

BK Veggie Burger (420 calories)

Most misleading item:Tendercrisp Chicken Sandwich. At 780 calories, half of which are from fat, don't think you're cutting calories with this batter-fried, mayo-slathered doozy. It has 110 more calories than the grown-up Whopper!

Wendy's

Mandarin Chicken Salad (348 calories)

Caesar Chicken Salad (282 calories)

Mandarin Orange Cup (80 calories)

Low Fat Strawberry Yogurt (140 calories)

Small Chili (220 calories)

Plain Baked Potato (270 calories)

Ultimate Chicken Grill Sandwich (360 calories)

Most misleading item:Homestyle Chicken Fillet Sandwich. Apparently, "Homestyle" is code for "mayonnaise." At 540 calories (only 40 calories better than the Big Bacon Classic) you're better off with the more decadent-sounding, but healthier, Ultimate Chicken Grill.

Taco Bell

Crunchy Taco "Fresco Style" (150 calories)

Crunchy Taco (170 calories)

Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco "Fresco Style" (170 calories)

Taco Supreme (220 calories)

Gordita (chicken or steak) "Fresco Style" (230 calories)

Most misleading item: Fiesta Taco Salad. At 860 calories, this may be the most highly caloric item on Taco Bell's menu. You can shave off over 300 calories by not eating the deep-fried tostada shell it's served in, but still, a pretty hefty calorie count for a "salad."

Subway

6-inch Veggie Delite sandwich (230 calories)

6-inch Turkey Breast sandwich (280 calories)

6-inch Roast Beef sandwich (290 calories)

6-inch Ham sandwich (290 calories)

6-inch Subway Club sandwich (320 calories)

Most misleading item:Meatball Marinara. What's in these meatballs? A six-inch sub is 560 calories; a 12-inch sub has 1,120 calories, and if you double the meat, you can get a single 12-inch sandwich with 1,920 calories and 84 grams of fat. On the bright side, I believe the defibrillation is complimentary.

What Does It Mean to Be "Fat"?

By Jude Buglewicz

It's no secret that the U.S. is one of the fattest nations in the world: 66.3% of Americans over 20 years old are overweight or obese (about 140 million); 32% are obese (67 million); and almost 5% (9 million) are morbidly obese. Of adolescents 12 to 19 years old, over 17% are overweight (over 12.5 million), 16% of them girls, and 18.2%, boys. But what exactly do the terms "overweight," "obese," and "morbidly obese" mean, and why should these distinctions matter to you?

The standard definitions as used by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO) (and most social science and medical journals that rely on the data from those organizations) are based on body mass index (BMI) levels. This is a calculation using your height and weight.

This group has a 50% to 100% increased risk of premature death from all causes.

Morbidly obese. BMI of 40 or more (typically about 100 pounds overweight)

9 million Americans (almost 5%)

The number of morbidly obese American adults quadrupled in the last 20 years.

People in this group have an increased risk for a shorter life expectancy (it could be up to 20 years shorter): death from diabetes or heart attack is 5 to 7 times greater than for non-obese peopleheart disease is 6 times more common, and diabetes is 10 times more common.

Data from the National Center for Health Statistics, based on 20032004 estimates from National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), and from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Problems with BMI

Although body mass index is the most commonly used measurement of obesity, it doesn't distinguish between fat and fat-free mass, like muscle and bone. Bodybuilders and other athletes with lots of muscle (which weighs more than fat) may have high BMIs, and so would be classified "overweight" or "obese," though they're more likely to be healthy and fit, not fat. And older people who lose muscle mass through the aging process and then replace muscle weight with fat may still have the same height and weight, and so, BMI number, though they'd actually be "fatter."

Because of such concerns, some researchers are pressing for more accurate ways to assess body fat, including using body fat percentage, while others argue that it's the location of body fat that's most important, not simply how much of it you have. Excessive deep abdominal fat is far worse than fat around your hips and thighs, as it is linked to increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and other serious medical conditions. Your waist measurement, then, is also a gauge of your health (over 35 inches for women and over 40 inches for men is associated with higher disease risk).

But because BMI is so easy to determine, and because most of the research on the medical risks stemming from obesity is based on BMI data, your body mass index is a number worth knowing.

Reverse the trend!

If you're reading this, chances are you've bought a Beachbody product and are on your way to a long-term healthy and fit lifestyle. Good for you! And if right now you happen to be one of the 140 million Americans who are considered overweight or obese, just keep exercisingKeep Pushing Playand keep eating right, and here's what you can look forward to:

Lowering your risk of heart disease or stroke by losing just 5% to 15% of your weight

Lowering your risk of type 2 diabetes (losing 10 to 15 pounds is enough for most people, according to the American Diabetes Association)

A 10% decrease in total cholesterol and a 40% decrease in obesity-related cancers by losing 10% of your weight

And if you're one of the 9 million morbidly obese Americanstake heart. Have a look at the Beachbody 100 Club, a group of dedicated individuals who've lost more than 100 pounds each, proving that regular exercise and a healthy diet can dramatically alter your life for the better. As Jenn B. says, "I'm so much happier and healthier and I have more confidence, better posture . . . heck, I've got my life back! My medical conditions (constant back pain, leg pain, asthma) have fixed themselves." Amazing what you can do if you're committed.